The greatest lesson I learned was from my grade 12 Calculus teacher, except, he doesn’t know that he taught me anything besides calculus. Up until grade 12, I was an average student who, like some, never put in 100% of their effort. I’ve always heard stories of this teacher, stories about how he is mean, or how he expects a lot from his students, and “lucky” me, I had never had him before in all my years of taking math at high-school.
When it was time for class, I never really knew what to expect, I had always liked math, so I went in with an open mind. But that year, I had hopes of going to University next fall, and I had told myself that I was going to bust my balls to succeed. Just the thought of calculus is enough to make some people feel uneasy, but when you have a teacher like I did, it makes it so much easier.
The semester went on and I began going in for some extra help at lunch, and after school. In turn, my grade in that class started skyrocketing. I realized to myself that if I continue to work hard, I can achieve great things. I ended up finishing the class with a high “A,” and it ended up being my best mark in my 5 years of high-school. As well, I took the same approach in to my other classes and I was rewarded.
Looking back, it’s easy to realize that if you work hard, everything else just falls in to place. He taught me that you should always work towards a goal, and if you work hard, you don’t have to worry about whether or not you will get there, because with hard work, there are infinite possibilities.